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California Travel: San Francisco on a budget is easy for a Full House enthusiast

With 24 hours and $240 dollars, you can do a lot in San Francisco. The city also has many free events and pop culture references for ‘90s lovers.

The painted homes on Alamo Square are one of the most photographed attractions in San Francisco. (Dreamstime)

This fire hydrant saved the Mission-Dolores neighbourhood after the 1906 earthquake. Most water mains in the city were broken. Years later, tn the anniversary of the fire, a local painted it gold. The tradition has continued since. (Katie Daubs / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Mission Dolores is a majestic building that counts as the oldest structure in San Francisco. (Dreamstime)

Success! According to the wise Internet, this house also appears in the Full House theme song, and is used for exterior shots. Shortly after this photo was taken, a vanload of girls arrived singing the Full House theme song, confirming my suspicions. (Katie Daubs / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Mission Dolores Park is a beautiful spot to take in the view of San Fancisco's downtown. (Katie Daubs / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Katie DaubsStaff Reporter

Wed., Nov. 28, 2012

San Francisco has everything: a swell bridge, great neighbourhoods and, most importantly, shrines to the 1990s sitcom Full House.

My friend and I visited in October and monitored the web for a cheap hotel. After two months, we eventually secured a room at Le Meridien in the financial district for $107 a night on Hotwire ($130 with tax, $110 left).

When we arrive, the city is busy. There’s the Fleet Week air show, America’s Cup World Series for sailing, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a musical festival in Golden Gate Park. They’re all free, but I’m not interested.

Our odyssey begins with soliciting intel on the Full House house.

“I’ve been here for 17 years and, the general consensus is, they’ve never announced where that house is,” the hotel concierge tells us.

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However, she says the house seen in the opening credits, “where Michelle is in the bassinet and the city skyline is in the background,” is on Steiner St., which borders Alamo Park.

The Internet has an address for another house on nearby Broderick St., also allegedly used in the series. As we discuss this with the concierge, it feels like we’re getting into some heavy stuff.

Before we leave, she tells us the Mrs. Doubtfire house is also popular, but the frustrated owners have changed its appearance. Such is the price of owning real estate located in the hearts and minds of people who can’t let go of the ’90s.

Before we visit the Tanner shrines, we hop on an outbound streetcar ($2, $108 left) to the Mission Dolores neighbourhood for a free San Francisco City Guides walking tour. This will give us actual information about the city, instead of the fictional plotlines that involve Danny Tanner’s car ending up in the San Francisco Bay on his 30th birthday.

The website tells us to meet our guide at the golden fire hydrant, at Church and 20th streets, that saved this part of the city during the 1906 earthquake. On our way, we grab a coffee and bagel ($4, $104)

Our guide tells us that, in the aftermath of the earthquake, people turned on their stoves and broken gas lines erupted in flames. The city burned for days because water mains were broken. This hydrant was not damaged, and pumped water that saved nearby Mission Dolores. Years later, a local painted it gold every year on the fire’s anniversary.

The tour presents a good history of San Francisco — it’s evolution from sleepy town to a booming gold rush city. After the earthquake, many people had to live in ad-hoc shelters, and Mission Dolores Park, which is now a lovely green hill with a stunning view of the city, was home to earthquake cottages.

The tour ends at the Mission Dolores, one of 21 built by the Spanish in California. This is the oldest building in San Francisco, and it is home to one of the city’s only cemeteries. I hand over a $10 donation ($94 left). I like reading gravestones, so I walk into the mission ($5, $89 left) to see the final resting places of Native Americans, Spanish missionaries and Irish men and women, who died around the time of the Gold Rush.

Next, we walk to nearby Castro Street and stumble upon the annual Castro Street Fair, founded by gay activist and politician Harvey Milk in 1974. It’s a $5 donation ($84 left.) There are thousands of people eating barbecue, listening to bands and walking around. There’s a garage sale where the owner is getting philosophical. “Your mind is tuned to certain things,” he tells potential buyers. “Quality things.”

My mind is tuned to the sealed bottle of mouthwash. My friend’s mind is tuned to the unmarked VHS tape. We leave these treasures behind and I’ve still got $84 to spend.

The Castro restaurants are packed, and we’re told there are good restaurants on Divisadero. We get on a bus and head west ($2, $82 left).

We settle on a pizza place hidden by scaffolding called Little Star. We split a small pepperoni pizza with roasted garlic and sundried tomatoes and I have a nice frosty wheat beer ($30, $52 left).

From here, we walk to Alamo Park. People in the park are looking at the air show in the sky, sitting on blankets, just like Dave Coulier, Bob Saget and John Stamos did when they picnicked during the Full House show’s opening credits in season four.

We walk 20 minutes northwest to Broderick St., where a row of Victorians are located. There is no mistaking the house seen fleetingly in the show’s opening credits: it’s the one with security sign and a rope cordoning off its front steps. A car pulls up. Worried that it’s Danny Tanner about to impart a life lesson about privacy as familiar strains of saccharine music play, we put away our map.

Luckily, the door opens to a group of girls midway through the Full House theme song. I feel for the homeowner.

We catch a bus back to our hotel ($2, $50 left) and, after a break, we walk up California Street to the Top of the Mark, a restaurant on the19th floor of the historic Nob Hill hotel, Intercontinental Mark Hopkins, with great views of the city.

I order a delicious and touristy “Only in San Francisco” martini and the Queso Fundido, which is essentially tortilla chips with cheese and chorizo dip ($35, $15 left.).

Later, at the hotel, I order a Caesar salad, since I’ve only eaten cheese and bread all day. It’s expensive and comes with unsolicited anchovies ($15, $0 left). With no money left, I am grateful it comes with a bun.

JUST THE FACTS

ARRIVING Air Canada and United Airlines fly direct from Toronto.

SLEEPING Budget travellers should check out the Seal Rock Inn. Out of the core and near the ocean, rooms are nice, not fancy, from $114. 545 Point Lobos Ave. 415-752-8000. sealrockinn.com

We had a hard time finding something cheap downtown, but got lucky with a Hotwire rate for Le Meridien. Comfortable, four star and quiet, $130, including tax. 333 Battery Street. 415-296-2900. starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien

SIGHTSEEING San Francisco City Guides offers free daily tours from enthusiastic locals. sfcityguides.org. If you have more time to explore, San Francisco CityPASS covers admission to five attractions, including the Aquarium of the Bay, Exploratorium and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and comes with a seven-day pass for local transit and cable cars. $69 for adults, $39 for kids. citypass.com/san-francisco

WEBSURFING San Francisco Travel is a great place to start planning your trip. sanfrancisco.travel

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